Tim Day has served as Principal Flute of the SFS since 2006, occupying the Caroline H. Hume Chair. Mr. Day served as principal flute with the Baltimore Symphony for twelve seasons, has been acting principal flute with the Minnesota Orchestra, and was guest principal flute with the Boston Symphony. A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory, Mr. Day joined the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 1987. During the summers he is on the faculty of the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara.  For more on Tim Day, visit sfsymphony.org/TimDay.

(February 2019)

Russ de Luna joined the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra as English Horn in 2007 and holds the Joseph & Pauline Scafidi Chair. In the 2022–23 season, he appears as soloist with the orchestra in the US premiere of Outi Tarkiainen’s Milky Ways, and he was previously featured in Aaron Copland’s Quiet City and Jean Sibelius’s The Swan of Tuonela under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas and Esa-Pekka Salonen. He appears regularly on the San Francisco Symphony chamber music series.

Mr. de Luna has also performed with the Atlanta Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and New York Philharmonic, where he soloed in The Swan of Tuonela. He spent three summers as a member of the Saito Kinen Orchestra in Japan under the direction of Seiji Ozawa and is now the English Horn for the Sun Valley Music Festival Orchestra.

A graduate of Boston University and Northwestern University, Mr. de Luna now teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and coaches the oboe section of the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Luis Baez, Associate Principal and E-flat Clarinet of the SFS, joined the Orchestra in 1990. A graduate of the Peabody Conservatory, he began his professional career as principal clarinet of the Annapolis Opera Orchestra, and he has been a member of the Florida Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, and New Mexico Symphony, where he served as principal clarinet for four years. He is a coach for the SFS Youth Orchestra and serves on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

(February 2019)

Rob Weir joined the SFS in 1991. Born and raised in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada, Mr. Weir trained at the Curtis Institute of Music. Prior to his appointment with the SFS, he served as principal bassoon of the Chamber Symphony of San Francisco and the California Symphony. Mr. Weir has served on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and was previously a coach for the SFS Youth Orchestra.  

(September 2019)

Diane Nicholeris has been a member of the SFS since 1984. She studied violin with Joseph Silverstein and Sylvia Rosenberg and graduated from the Eastman School of Music. Ms. Nicholeris has appeared as soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic, Boston Pops, Boston Symphony Esplanade Orchestra, and the Monterey Symphony Orchestra, where she was also concertmaster. She has served as an SFS Youth Orchestra coach for many years, and she has also coached at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, UC Berkeley, the New World Symphony, and the Greater Boston Youth Symphony. She was previously on the faculty of San Jose State University. Learn more about Diane Nicholeris at sfsymphony.org/dianenicholeris.

(February 2019)

David Goldblatt, occupant of the Christine & Pierre Lamond Second Century Chair, joined the SFS cello section in 1978, having previously played in the Pittsburgh Symphony. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Mr. Goldblatt has also been a cellist with the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia (now the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia) and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. He is currently a coach for the SFS Youth Orchestra.

Nadya Tichman joined the San Francisco Symphony in 1980. She served as Associate Concertmaster through July 2022, holding the San Francisco Symphony Foundation Chair, and as acting concertmaster from 1998–2001. She was a founding member of the Donatello Quartet and co-director of Chamber Music Sundaes. She has served on the faculty of California State University, Sacramento, and plays a 1724 Stradivarius violin purchased by the SF Symphony for her exclusive use. She studied at the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music.

(11/2022)

Amy Hiraga studied at the University of Cincinnati and the Juilliard School. She has been a member of the Orchestra of Saint Luke’s and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Hiraga spent one year as a member of the SFS before returning to the East Coast with her husband, SFS Associate Principal Cello Peter Wyrick. She worked as a freelance musician in New York and joined the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 1991, then rejoined the SFS when she and Mr. Wyrick returned to San Francisco in 1999.

(September 2019)

Nancy Ellis, a New Jersey native, joined the San Francisco Symphony’s viola section in 1975. She attended Oberlin College for two years before transferring to Mills College, of which she is a graduate. She has toured Europe with a quartet that backed rock singer Van Morrison, and she has attended the Marlboro Music Festival and toured with Music from Marlboro.

(February 2019)

Peter Wyrick was a member of the San Francisco Symphony cello section from 1986–89, rejoined the Symphony as Associate Principal Cello from 1999–2023, and retired from the Orchestra at the end of last season. He was previously principal cello of the Mostly Mozart Orchestra and associate principal cello of the New York City Opera. He has appeared as soloist with the SF Symphony in works including C.P.E. Bach’s Cello Concerto in A major, Bernstein’s Meditation No. 1 from Mass, Haydn’s Sinfonia concertante in B-flat major, and music rom Tan Dun’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Concerto.

In chamber music, Wyrick has collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Yefim Bronfman, Lynn Harrell, Jeremy Denk, Julia Fischer, and Edgar Meyer, among others. As a member of the Ridge String Quartet, Wyrick recorded Dvořák’s piano quintets with pianist Rudolf Firkušný on an RCA recording that received the Diapason d’Or and a Grammy nomination. He has also recorded Fauré’s cello sonatas with pianist Earl Wild for dell’Arte records. Born in New York to a musical family, he began studies at the Juilliard School at age eight and made his solo debut at age 12.

Daniel G. Smith was appointed Associate Principal Bass of the San Francisco Symphony in 2017. He previously served as principal bass of the Santa Barbara Symphony, and he was a member of the San Diego Symphony. He has served as guest principal and associate principal bass with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and guest principal of the Lakes Area Music Festival in Brainerd, MN. Mr. Smith received his Bachelor of Music from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music under the tutelage of Timothy Pitts.

Robert Ward joined the San Francisco Symphony as Principal Horn in 1980 after holding positions in the Atlantic Symphony of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the Denver Symphony. As a composer and arranger, his works have been performed on the San Francisco Symphony chamber music series and by Bay Brass. A graduate of Oberlin College Conservatory and a Tanglewood Music Center fellow, he now serves on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.